Reward charts for children: what actually motivates
“What do I get for it?” – that question is usually when doubts about the reward chart start. What the research says, and how rewards help without doing harm.
Picture coming through the door with two full shopping bags and asking your son to carry one into the kitchen. He looks up from his bricks for a second and asks: “What do I get for it?”
In that moment the sticker chart on the fridge suddenly feels like a mistake. Didn't you put it up so that brushing teeth in the evening would happen without an argument? And now everything has a price?
The short version
- A reward chart can help children turn important but dull jobs, like brushing their teeth, into a habit.
- For things children enjoy anyway, expected rewards are risky: in studies, children went back to those activities less often of their own accord afterwards.
- What works: a handful of clearly described goals, rewards chosen together, and a smallest reward that is quick to reach.
- A reason that makes sense, sympathy for the fact that it is boring, and real choices all help a child take a chore on as their own.
- In studies, positive feedback strengthened interest in an activity rather than weakening it.
What is a reward chart?
A reward chart, also called a token system or points plan, collects stars, stickers or points for agreed jobs, which are later traded for a reward. Behind it sit two kinds of motivation. Intrinsic motivation means doing something for its own sake – drawing because drawing is fun. Extrinsic motivation means the push comes from outside, from a star or a reward.
Do rewards work? What the research says
A classic experiment from the 1970s: nursery children who liked drawing with felt-tip pens were promised a small certificate for drawing. In later free-play sessions, exactly those children spent less time drawing than children who had been given no reward, or an unexpected one (Lepper, Greene & Nisbett, 1973).
A review of 128 studies came to a similar conclusion: expected, tangible rewards weakened intrinsic motivation for interesting activities, and tended to do so more strongly in children than in students. Positive feedback, on the other hand, strengthened interest (Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999). Even 20-month-olds helped less often after being given a material reward for helping (Warneken & Tomasello, 2008).
That does not make rewards harmful across the board. Those studies were about activities that are interesting, or that children do gladly of their own accord. For boring but important jobs, Deci and colleagues argue, the question is rather how children come to take them on as their own over time. An experiment by the same group names three things that help: a reason that makes sense, sympathy for the fact that the job is no fun, and choices (Deci, Eghrari, Patrick & Leone, 1994).
How do you spot the reward trap?
- Rewarding what is already fun. Handing out stars for drawing or reading when your child enjoys both is exactly the effect the studies describe.
- The price keeps going up. A sticker today, a toy next week: if rewards have to keep growing, the chart is no longer carrying itself.
- Rewards as an emergency brake. “If you stop crying right now, you get …” is a deal made under pressure, and it becomes a habit quickly.
- Everything has a price. If even a small favour in passing gets negotiated, it is worth trimming the chart back.
How do you build a reward chart that works?
A handful of clear goals. The AOK's ADHD parent training recommends clearly described rules for points plans that a child only has to keep one to three times a day. That is a good measure for other families too.
Explain the reason, take the feelings seriously. “We lay the table together so that one person doesn't do all the work.” And a sentence like “I know tidying is boring” changes nothing about the job, but often something about the mood.
Leave the choice. Which job first, which reward to save for: your child can often decide that themselves. Having a say makes it feel like their own business.
Pick the rewards together. The AOK advises collecting at least four rewards of different sizes, and leaning towards small things and time spent together rather than big purchases. The smallest should be reachable when a child manages a little over half the possible points, and a trial week shows whether it all fits.
Feedback that describes. “You remembered the flowers without me saying anything” says more than “Great”. It makes visible what your child actually did.
A good reward chart makes itself a little unnecessary over time.
An example: a reward chart for a six-year-old
Here is what a first chart for a child in their first school year might look like. The numbers are a suggestion you adjust after the trial week.
| Task | Stars |
|---|---|
| Getting dressed in the morning without a reminder | 1 |
| Packing the school bag for the next day | 1 |
| Laying the table | 1 |
| Reward | Stars |
|---|---|
| An extra bedtime story | 4 |
| Choosing the film for family night | 10 |
| Pancakes for Sunday breakfast | 15 |
| A day out of their choosing | 40 |
The smallest reward is within reach after a few days, the largest takes a few weeks of patience. Almost all the rewards are time together rather than purchases, and which goal to save for is your child's decision.
How Fleißstern supports a reward chart
In Fleißstern you set the rewards together, one-off or again and again, from a movie night to a day out. A bar shows your child how close the next goal already is. When they wish for something, the stars are set aside until you say yes, and if you turn it down they get them back.
For help given out of the blue you can award extra stars by hand, or simply say thank you. Stars are only ever taken away if you switch that on for a particular task. Which jobs suit which age is set out in chores for children by age.
Common questions
Do reward charts work for children?
They can, especially for important but dull jobs like brushing teeth or packing a school bag. For things children enjoy anyway it pays to be careful, because in studies expected rewards reduced the pleasure they took in them. What matters is a handful of clear goals, rewards chosen together, and genuine appreciation.
Which rewards suit children?
Small privileges and time together work well: an extra bedtime story, choosing the film for family night, a day out. The AOK's ADHD parent training advises collecting at least four rewards of different sizes, and leaning towards small things and shared outings rather than big purchases.
At what age does a reward chart work?
There is no fixed minimum age. At nursery age, simple charts with pictures can help if the goals are small and the first reward is quick to reach. Primary-school children can also save towards bigger goals that take a few weeks of patience.
How do you stop using a reward chart?
Best not all at once, but job by job. Once something has become a habit it can come off the chart, and a new job can take its place. Thanks and appreciation stay, of course, stars or no stars.
Sources
- Lepper, Greene & Nisbett (1973): Undermining children's intrinsic interest with extrinsic reward. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 28(1) – PDF via MIT
- Deci, Koestner & Ryan (1999): A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin 125(6) – PubMed
- Deci, Koestner & Ryan (2001): Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation in Education: Reconsidered Once Again. Review of Educational Research 71(1) – PDF via selfdeterminationtheory.org
- Warneken & Tomasello (2008): Extrinsic rewards undermine altruistic tendencies in 20-month-olds. Developmental Psychology 44(6) – PubMed
- Deci, Eghrari, Patrick & Leone (1994): Facilitating internalization: the self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Personality 62(1) – PubMed
- Punkte-Plan (ADHS-Elterntrainer) – AOK-Bundesverband